BIGGEST DROP IN HISTORY: Dow plummets by record 1,190 points as coronavirus panic week drags on

US Stocks tumbled nearly 1,200 points on Thursday as the coronavirus fears prevailed. It comes after President Donald Trump blamed market woes on the media and Democrats trying to make the outbreak look as “bad as possible.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had the worst single-day drop on Thursday and has been pushed into a correction for the first time since November 2008, meaning it dropped by more than 10 percent from a recent high. 

Technology and airline stocks have been hit the hardest. Microsoft lost 2.8 percent after warning investors the disease will affect revenue.

American and Delta airlines dropped by 8.5 and 4.5 percent, respectively, thanks to delayed travel plans from consumers, as well as reducing flights overseas to nations hardest hit by the virus.

Other companies like Budweiser maker InBev and cloud-computing company Nutanix had also released financial warnings to investors about potential revenue losses due to the virus. 

The latest hit on the Dow Jones follows President Trump announcing late Thursday he is stepping up US efforts to respond to the disease after another US patient was discovered in California, someone who has not traveled abroad recently, a common factor among patients.

The president previously blamed several mainstream media outlets and Democrats for trying to make the disease look “as bad as possible” to panic markets. Despite this, the president insisted on Thursday that the US is in “great shape.”

The coronavirus has affected 82,000 people worldwide.

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